Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between preoperative inflammatory markers (neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet–lymphocyte ratio (PLR)) and different American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) T stages in patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma.
Methods: A total of 101 patients who underwent surgical treatment for hilar cholangiocarcinoma between 2003 and 2014 in Peking Union Medical College Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Receiver-operating curves were used to calculate optimal cutoff values for the NLR and the PLR. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify whether the NLR and PLR can independently predict different AJCC T stages.
Results: Multivariate analysis showed that higher NLR and PLR independently predicted advanced AJCC T stages (OR 3.74, 95% CI 1.09–12.83, P  =0.036; and OR 7.86, 95% CI 2.25–27.43, P  =0.001, respectively). At a threshold of 2.75, the NLR was 75.9% sensitive and 66.7% specific for different AJCC T stages; at a threshold of 172.25, the PLR was 65.5% sensitive and 80.6% specific.
Conclusion: Preoperative NLR and PLR can be used as independent predictors of different AJCC T stages in patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma.
Keywords: neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio, platelet–lymphocyte ratio, hilar cholangiocarcinoma